[artdutra04]

Ryan,

This is not a DIY problem that a trip to Home Depot and reading up on a few articles online will solve. This is something that needs a licensed professional electrician who knows the code to evaluate in person, and figure out how much of it will need to be replaced. Just because "something worked for 20 years" does not mean that it was safe.

And judging from your descriptions, it sounds like there are egregious errors from proper electrical code, which points out that whoever did the electrical in your house either did not know the electrical code (very scary thought) or had a "screw the code, this is faster/cheaper" attitude, which is just as hazardous.